


Extremis Malfunction

by guineamania



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Extremis, Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-20 06:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3639447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guineamania/pseuds/guineamania
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Space Swap for Nizah.<br/>Prompt: Steve gets infected with Extremis and when the serum enters in his system it tries to overwrite both Steve's DNA and the Super Soldier Serum. The cure Tony used on Pepper seems having no effect on Steve...</p><p>When Steve goes down on a mission Tony had a plan to save him. But when this doesn't go to plan, Tony realizes that he will do anything for Steve to just wake up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Extremis Malfunction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nizah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nizah/gifts).



“Steve!” Tony shouted over the comms when the other end went dark. They were raiding a suspected Extremis testing facility and the team had split into three groups; Tony was with Natasha, Bruce was with Thor and Steve was with Clint. Bruce and Thor were to blast in through the front door to attract attention and the other team would sneak in to find out as much as they could before they were spotted. Well that was the plan anyway. “What’s happening spangles?” Tony continued to shout as he blazed his way through the crowds that had amassed on the duo. Natasha was standing up for herself as usual but the majority of Tony’s concern was for the super soldier.   
“Cap is down. I repeat Cap is down. Stay with me Stephen!” Clint shouted, and Tony’s heart stopped. Natasha slaughtered the final assailant but Tony was already following the map on his visor to Clint and Steve’s location. He had to help Steve. Steve had been a constant throughout his life; even when he believed Steve to be dead he was always there. Howard was obsessed with Captain America ever since his disappearance and Tony was brought up on the opinion that Steve Rogers was a god and Tony would never be as good as him.

Now he knew Steve was just a man and had served with him for years now but he was still a hero in Tony’s childish mind and he needed to survive. Tony didn’t know what he would do if Steve didn’t survive. Steve was laid still on the floor with Clint shaking his shoulders violently. He was pale and sweating violently as he laid comatose. An empty syringe lay discarded to the side. It could only mean one thing. Extremis. He could deal with Extremis. The cure he had used on Pepper was back at his lab in the Avengers Tower. “We need to finish up here and get him back to the tower as soon as possible,” Natasha voiced Tony’s mind. Tony was stunned silent as he carefully picked up Steve’s now limp form. It was decided that Tony, Natasha and Bruce would take Steve back to the tower in the quinjet to get the treatment while Thor and Clint would meet with Hill and Coulson to aid in dealing with the aftermath. Tony was silent throughout. All he could focus on was Steve. The rest of the mission was lost to him. 

The quinjet ride back to the tower was torturous for all involved. Steve continued to convulse sporadically, scaring everyone into action when he did. The orange hue coming from under his skin began to grow stronger and stronger but his body was still fighting. That was Steve for you. He never gave up a fight. Tony was fidgeting endlessly and was driving Natasha insane. He wasn’t used to sitting still without something to do with his hands. He was in no condition to fly and Bruce was not going to let him get in the way of him monitoring Steve. There was nothing to do but wait. Tony hated waiting.

As soon as they landed Tony shot down the ramp, calling for Bruce to hurry. Steve needed the remedy, he needed it as soon as possible. The super serum was keeping Steve alive but Tony could not be sure how long it would put up the fight. Seconds could be all it took for him to die. Seconds. They arrived at the medical bay as fast as was humanly possible and Tony was preparing the serum almost on autopilot. His mind wouldn’t stop but at least adrenaline was carrying him forwards where he body would not naturally go for lengths of time he would never have managed. The cure was prepared and Natasha helped Tony hold down Steve’s shaking form as Bruce injected it. 

Nothing happened. With Pepper it had worked almost instantaneously but Steve continued to be limp with his skin shining a blazing orange. They were all silent and it was as if time had stopped. No one knew what to do now. The cure was their main hope. But Steve could not die. He had survived flying a plan into the ocean, he could survive Extremis. Tony felt like he could be sick. Steve had to survive this.

Tony threw himself into a new cure with a passion that was only rivalled by the creation of Iron Man Mark II. He had to be proactive or the tension would drive him to do something very reckless and deserting the idea entirely. The extremis virus was attempting to overwrite the super soldier serum but the serum was fighting back. The cure wasn’t working and killing the extremis because it destroyed the contaminated cells not the virus itself. There were no infected cells because they healed. It was Steve’s healing ability that was stopping him from getting better. If this wasn’t a matter of life and death, Tony would appreciate the irony of it. That would be something to laugh about with Steve when they got through this. The extremis virus wouldn’t kill him as it couldn’t grip on to him. Bruce predicted it would be the exhaustion from fighting it. They needed to keep his energy up and find a cure as soon as possible. There wasn’t a second to waste. Bruce was happy to help and they had even brought in someone that Tony wouldn’t trust as far as he could throw him, and that wouldn’t be very far anyway. Dr Strange.

Magic was as far out of Tony’s comfort zone as you could get and he was still sure Dr Strange was a hoax. But they needed something special and Dr Strange was definitely that. “Doctor,” Bruce nodded as he let Dr Strange into the med bay. Tony continued to glower at him. He was not happy. 

“Doctor Banner will you please tell Mr Stark that I will leave if he doesn’t accept I am here to help his friend,” Doctor Strange stated as Tony scoffed at him for the fourth time since his arrival. A purple glow covered his hands as he examined Steve. The convulsions were becoming shorter and weaker every time. Bruce was worried that this was a sign of Steve weakening no matter how much sugar he kept flowing into his body. Curse the super soldier’s superior metabolism. Tony was silenced surprisingly. Steve meant too much for him to ruin their best chance. It took hours but eventually their risk paid off. “I have a plan,” Doctor Strange stated, his hands stopped glowing and he turned to face the two scientists. “I can shut off his healing factor temporarily. This should hopefully give your cure a chance to work and kill off the virus,” Doctor Strange explained and both men were bustling into action instantly. This was their best shot and if Doctor Strange could do this then it was medically accurate. It took about ten minutes but Bruce and Tony were ready to act quickly. Bruce would have to keep Steve knocked out and stable while monitoring his vitals while Tony prepared and injected the cure at exactly the right time. Doctor Strange would have no idea how long they would have. “Let’s go,” Tony nodded and it began.

After they had completed the procedure and Steve was declared cured of the Extremis virus, Tony was forcibly removed from the med bay. He hadn’t slept since the day before the mission and his stomach was protesting violently. Maybe Bruce was right and he did need a break. Tony was out for the count as soon as his head hit the pillow.

When Steve woke up he felt weak. It was a strange feeling like none of his limbs were listening to him and they were weighed down. But he knew he was safe, this was the medical room in Stark Tower. Slowly sitting up, his head was spinning but he was beginning to orientate once again. “Steve!” Tony screamed, throwing himself at the super soldier and knocking the wind out of him. Needless to say Steve was confused but however he just sat there as Tony clutched onto him and sobbed. He could ask later but for now this was nice.


End file.
